Habits
Introduce These Words:
evening
wrapper
cardboard
recycle
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pounce
kitchen
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We’ve already talked about favorite foods, and you’ve learned a little about the Carter animals’ special treats. Also, you know about Pixie’s habit of digging holes in the yard. But what about other little habits? Everyone has them. Even animals!
When Pippi and Frank were tiny kittens, Susan and Tom kept them in their bedroom. The house was a big place for tiny kittens. Susan didn’t want them to get lost or stuck under a chair or behind the couch. In the family’s house there is a bathroom with a door to Susan and Tom’s bedroom. Susan put the kitty litter box at one end of the bathtub. She put the kittens’ food and water at the other end of the bathtub. Any mess they made was easy to clean up. The kittens felt safe in the bathtub and they quickly learned to hop in and out. They could go back and forth from the bathroom to the bedroom when they wanted. They had plenty of space in the bedroom, and felt very much at home there. There were fun places to hide. They hid behind the bed. They hid under the covers. They hid behind the door. They played happily in the bedroom for a few weeks, and every week they grew a little.
After about a month, Susan thought the kittens might like to explore the rest of the house. She took them into the living room. “What a huge new world!” said Franky and Pippi to each other. They had a wonderful time hiding and playing together. They pounced on each other from behind chairs. They jumped on top of each other from the couch. They crawled under the rug and played tag.
In a few more weeks the kittens were even bigger, and Susan and Tom didn’t need to keep them in the bedroom anymore. Susan put the kitty litter in another good place. She put the cat food and water in the kitchen. But do you know what happened? Franky and Pippi hopped into the bathtub and cried for their food and water. Susan put a big bowl of water in the bathtub and the kittens drank happily.
Now Pippi and Franky are grown cats. But they still love to drink out of the bowl of water in the bathtub! Susan fills it with clean water every day, and the cats come to drink. Sometimes they drink from their bowl in the kitchen, but the bathtub bowl is their favorite.
Bobby and Pixie are very glad that Pip and Franky’s food and water are in the kitchen. Cat food is not good for dogs, but Bobby sneaks it whenever he can. If he is in the house and the family is gone, he licks the cat food bowl clean. Then he lies down in his special spot in the hall and goes to sleep. Susan tries to remember to lift the cat food bowl up when she leaves the house, but sometimes she forgets. But Bobby never forgets to check the bowl!
Pixie is not very interested in cat food, but she is a very thirsty dog. Every time she walks by the water bowl, she takes a drink. She has her own big water bowls inside and outside, but she likes the cats’ water better. The cats’ water is in a little blue bowl. Susan fills it a few times each day. After Pixie’s evening walk, she drinks up the whole bowl before going outside to sleep. Then Susan fills the bowl one more time for the night.
Bobby has one habit the Carters don’t like. He loves to bark. He doesn’t bark at people, but he barks at other dogs. There are many dogs near the Carters’ yard. Bobby can hear them barking. Every time he hears them barking he runs to the back fence and joins in. He knows he is not supposed to do it, but he just can’t stop. The only good thing about it is that it makes him run, so he gets some exercise!
Whenever a motorcycle goes by outside the Carters’ fence, Pixie chases it. She is inside the fence, but she races from one end of the yard to the other as the motorcycle roars by. Maybe she thinks she can catch it! She gets plenty of exercise chasing motorcycles every day.
Franky likes to balance on things. He balances on the back of the dining room chairs. He balances on the stair rail, high off the ground. The Carters sometimes worry that he will fall, but he never does. Franky especially likes to balance on the very top of the stair rail on the edge of the upstairs balcony. He often takes a nap up there. He looks like a tiny tiger resting in a jungle tree. Perhaps he feels like one, too.
One of the things that keeps Pippi busy is digging little papers out of the trash and recycle bins. The Carters have two cardboard boxes – one for trash and one for recycle. Pippi loves to stick her paw into the trash box and poke around for fun things to play with. Her favorite toys are candy wrappers and other small things that are shiny or have a good smell. She is very good at finding them. She reaches her paw deep into the box and grabs whatever smells good to her. She pulls it out and bats it around with her paw. If Susan sees her, she puts the wrapper back in the trash box. This makes Pippi very happy. She quickly goes and finds it again. She plays with it for a few minutes. Then Susan puts it back in the trash. Pippi races to the trash and finds the wrapper again! “Silly kitty!” says Susan, but she has fun playing with Pippi.
If you have any pets, you know that they have their own special habits. People have habits, too. What are some of yours? Perhaps you would like to draw a picture or tell a story about the interesting habits of everyone at your house.
